PyeongChang finalizes 2018 bid

PyeongChang has completed its candidature file for its bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Cho Yang-ho, CEO of PyeongChang’s 2018 bid committee, joined by Korean Olympic Committee president Park Yong-sung and Lee Kwang-jae, Governor of Gangwon Province, signed Thursday the finalized proposal in a special ceremony held in central Seoul.

The International Olympic Committee set the deadline for the submission at Jan. 11, and Cho is scheduled to travel to Lausanne, Switzerland, to deliver it next week.

The candidate file, which responds to 261 questions posed by the IOC, was prepared by a team of experts over a span of six months. The content includes detailed proposals for athlete-focused Winter Games and PyeongChang’s efficient multi-transport network, including the new high-speed railway that will connect Seoul and PyeongChang in 50 minutes, according to the bid committee.

With the slogan “New Horizons,” PyeongChang’s vision, set out in its candidate file, is to “help expand winter sports internationally, and connect the Olympic Movement with millions of new, young hearts and minds across the Asian region,” said Cho.

“Today is a milestone moment in our campaign. The submission of our candidate file is an opportunity to highlight our commitment to offer the Olympic movement a world of New Horizons,” he added.

PyeongChang, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul, is once again bidding for the Winter Games in 2018. The other bids are from Munich in Germany and France’s Anncey.

The IOC is set to dispatch a special delegation to conduct on-site inspections of all three candidate cities starting February after analyzing their candidate files. PyeongChang is scheduled to receive IOC officials from Feb. 14-20.